Job

Seeing as I have a few hours to kill on the rail journey home, I think I'll take the opportunity to write that blog I've been meaning to create. In my last blog but one I explained that I'd just moved to a new home. The follow-up I never got round to was supposed to cover the reason I moved: my new job.

Not that I was going to be explicit and reveal what that job was. Anonymity isn't a requirement of the job, but there was far more fun to be had keeping quiet, or so I thought. I wanted to see people figuring it out, but only two or three of you ever even mentioned it to me. Some of you realized and never said a thing. Not that I expected everyone to be as excited or pleased as me, but I wanted some kind of feedback.

I reckon the questions on most people's minds are "What do you do?" and "How long have you been doing it?".

Since November last year I've been working for Just Add Water. Xavier and I had visited their old office in August, right between OddTours 3a and 3b, and I was invited back for a second visit. There I was offered the task of looking after the official website and Facebook page in my free time, from home. I visited the office every couple of months and answered JAW's questions about the game: Did this character need to be upgraded or are they never seen? Which icons appear in Stranger's inventory? Then I moved nearby (ten minutes' walk away) and started working in the office at the beginning of August. For five months my near-daily companions have included Glitch, tda and, of course, Stewart Gilray.

My job encompasses several things. I still work on the online communities, but I also do the filing, water the plants, and communicate with fans, job applicants, the press and other companies (including merchandise partners). I'm the health and safety officer, fire officer and I think first aider.

For Stranger's Wrath I had a few creative inputs. That's me playing in the original HD trailer (some of it still makes me cringe). I put together the unlockable extras, contributed to the trophies and decided where to place the easter eggs; Glitch and Stew had to veto some of my more insanely hard-to-find spots.

I expect there are other questions, so ask away. In fact, I have my own: How/when did you find out and what did you think? I look forward to reading your reactions that I feel thoroughly cheated out of.

The coin dropped for me when you said you'd been helping with JAW's new website - Also you and Glitch always seemed to know each other well. Plus you live in the same area where JAW is based. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. :P

Thank you everyone. I was so worried about seeming boastful or arrogant, but this response has made me very relieved. Rest assured that I know exactly how much of a lucky bastard I am: to get a good job straight out of uni alone is jammy enough, let alone in a recession. It is more than a decade's dream come true.

@Pilot, essentially. More like I just couldn't be bothered not saying anything about it. I wanted everyone to realize the context of what I had to say.

@OddHunter, someone who pays as careful attention to Oddworld's web presence as you was found to figure it out. That's why I got you to take over the duty of reporting news on OddBlog, and you've never let me down.

@Nate, I believe it was actually Facebook. A comment has never been so rapidly deleted.

@Dix, my job is to be a fan guage. If I'm happy with what JAW are doing with Oddworld, the rest of the team can rest assured they're on the right course. This puts me in the weird position of representing the fans to the developers and the developers to the fans. Here's hoping I don't abuse that power.

@Jordan, shush, I know you've known for months. :P

@MeechMunchie, what the hell are silver oddblobs? I put it into Google and the only relevant thing that came up was this blog.

@OddHunter, someone who pays as careful attention to Oddworld's web presence as you was found to figure it out. That's why I got you to take over the duty of reporting news on OddBlog, and you've never let me down.

Aww, I’m blushing.

Quote:

Good question. Would it be greedy to have both 'Oddworld Administrator' and 'Just Add Water'? I think new members deserve to be aware of both.